Wordpress noob - first steps and noobie's advises

*some photos - upcoming

I have been working with Wordpress before, but not establishing websites from zero. For most of the time while working at my great organization Creative workshop Beepart, I am eager to work on new website, as the current one is not very modern and well-maintained (except the content, that is still fine). But, of course, as this is also NGO, money for such a projects comes from..other projects or sponsors, so I decide that I have to prove the need of new website and that it should become much more responsive, not so static as it is. One more step was - our galleries broke down (possibly by some of my mistakes in the code (however, it worked for quite a while), but more possible, because of not updating the back-end system (it is not supported anymore)).

I started by exploring what local Lithuanian companies are doing and how much money could it require ordering somebody to make a website. Averagely from EUR 250 - 3000. That's not an average at all! But ok, if it is on Wordpress template, than for around EUR 300 basics could be done. But I have worked with Wordpress before, it was very simple (except a couple of struggles with formatting years ago)! So I started to explore and experiment...

Of course, such a step would have been much easier if somebody would sit next to me and show the first steps how to establish localhost and start to work with Wordpress there, but actually it didn't require so much time to find out myself. Thanks to Juste (my ex-colleague), who once advised using localhost for our current website. I downloaded XAMPP and put on it Wordpress (and also some other website making platforms, which I later deleted). XAMPP is all you need if you want to establish website locally (nobody else sees, it is not online for public, you can change everything starting from the domain name till design and content later on). When you install it, run Apache and MySQL (you will have to turn off some computer security options).

To install Wordpress on Xampp all you need to do is to download the latest version from Wordpress.org website, unzip it and copy all content to xampp/htdocs/wp. The folder in my case calls 'wp', but it can be any other name. It is important that it is the same name which you use to make directory on Xampp phpMyAdmin. To do that, open Xampp Control Panel, next to the MySQL click "Admin". On to top there will section "Databases", open it and make a new database called the same as your folder on xampp/htdocs. After that, open localhost/wp (instead of wp use the the name of your folder and database) and follow everything that Wordpress "says".

Sadly most of the free templates come with Premium option which requires paying to get some cool additional stuff - mostly useful. I believe that it is possible to do everything yourself, but I am just a beginner, and that was one more thing why I wanted to use Wordpress - plenty of amazing templates available.

Some of the templates have fonts which don't support Lithuanian. This is quite simple to change - go to Appearance - Edit, Ctrl+F and find font-family. Where it is not sans-serif or other well-known widely used font, change it to one of fonts which support Lithuanian (or other language you need)- there is at least one great page which lets you find the right one.

What we want to add to our new website is additional e-shop for our souvenirs, local craftsmen works and paintings / other art pieces from our exhibitions. So in additional to find just a nice, working design I should also look for the theme where e-shop is supported. On Wordpress the most used is WooCommerce plugin, which I also installed. It works pretty nice, just I still have a lot of work to do to make it even look good (and much more - to make it actually work).

And ooh, it is so hard for me to find excellent theme! 

Want to learn online for free? Here are some hints!

As I really like to study, but I cannot decide what would I like the most, I dive into (free!) e-course platforms that offer many different courses, and decided to share favorites* with you.

*believe me, there are very many platforms!

Most of them offer courses in English, but some have possibilities to learn in Russian, Spanish, German and other languages.

Coursera - well known MOOCs (massive open online courses) platform, offers courses from top universities and organizations worldwide. After finishing the course mostly possible to get a certificate of accomplishment (for free) or verified certificate (for generally small fee). Courses are in really high quality, mostly requires do quizzes and assessments to complete the course and have beginning and finishing dates, but some are self-paced courses (that could be done any time you want). Possible to do specifications - it contains 3-5 courses in a similar sphere, for a fee.

Open2Study - courses offered by Australian universities and organizations. At the moment my favorite page, all courses are 4 weeks long, offers a certificate of accomplishment, assessments are quizzes (I don't enjoy to participate in forums, that often Coursera requires, so here it is optional). However, the page is loading longer than other MOOC pages. You will fast find out is there something for you, because it offers a limited amount of courses.
By learning, you earn some online badges. :)

Udemy - after quizzes shows statistics how many people answered questions right and wrong and compares with your answers. I am pretty sure that here you could find many courses in your interests. Many courses are for a fee, but many are for free too.

OpenLearning - here I found courses related with arts, self-improvement (not professional) and everyday life (as "Introduction to wines"), but it offers many courses in IT and other topics.

Iversity - Not many courses, but very nice platform. Possible to pass exams to get ECTS.

Khan Academy - I really enjoyed this platform when listening some history courses. The website is well-structured, learning is made like a game also by earning some badges. If on other MOOC sites subjects are mostly made for everybody or for one exact level, then here one subject is covered from beginning till the end.

Codecademy - Amazingly easy to learn website developing! Recommended to anyone who would like to learn it, especially if you think that you could never understand anything of programming.

Some other great platforms:

Livemocha - an interactive way to learn languages. Learn yourself, get feedback from native speakers and help to learn others your language! Very nice platform, but for me it is a bit too much like a game.

Bliu Bliu - a platform to learn vocabulary in many languages - first of all, test your knowledge, after - learn new vocabulary, check your progress! It gives texts to read (sometimes videos with a transcript) and to check unknown/known words (+ by using google translate, shows translations if you just move mouse on the word). Unfortunately, not always these texts are very meaningful and could be too hard for total beginners.

Lumosity - the brain training. Lumosity's groundbreaking program is based on extensive research in the field of neuroplasticity. In a couple of words - you can train your thinking, memory, fast decision-making etc. playing short games individually. It offers 3 games per day for free, but to try other games and to challenge your brains more, you should subscribe (by paying a fee). I enjoyed it very much when I was doing very routine type job.

You are about to expand your mind! Let's start?